America’s founding fathers could hardly get enough Madeira. It is a wine fortified with neutral grape spirits, which boosts its alcohol content to almost 20%, and comes from an island bearing the same name off the coast of Portugal.

Early colonists arriving to America from Europe naturally liked to bring as much of their former lives as they could fit onto a cramped ship. Who wouldn’t want the comforts of home when establishing a new life on a wildly different continent?

While architecture, livestock, and cultural customs transposed nicely, European wine-grapes did not. Thus, anyone thirsty for wine in the early days had to import it, and adding liquor to the wine casks (as was done for Madeira) helped it survive the long hot trans-Atlantic journey. By the time July 4, 1776 rolled around the likes of George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin were drinking Madeira daily.

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@MedleyDrinkDesigns is a platform to display what I am creating—as well as learning—on my journey to provide highly customized drinks and refreshment when making a lasting impression is important to your special occasion.

What I’m Reading

Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition by Daniel Okrent

The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution 1783-1789 by Joseph J. Ellis